Language learning strategies of preschool children on the example of French and German as foreign languages

Sažetak: This paper examines the awareness of language learning strategies use in early foreign language learning. The research was carried out on the sample of 39 preschool children who were included in early foreign language learning of French and German. A structured interview was conducted with the participants, based on the one used by Mihaljević-Djigunović (2001). It consists of six open questions. The participants were asked to explain how they would help various soft toys to learn some words and structures in French or German. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the reported strategies were then counted. The results were described and analysed based on descriptive statistics. A total of 571 solutions named by the participants were attributed to 25 language learning strategies. The strategies have been structured according to their frequency and functions. The quantitave analysis showed a considerable prevalence of memory-related strategies (N=320) which leads to the conclusion that they do not need to be taught, since they were mentioned and acquired by an overwhelming majority. This also applies to affective strategies. They occurred very rarely (N=3) indicating that preschool children either do not need those strategies or are not able to identify and use them. Cognitive strategies seem to be identified by an average of only one-third of the participants (N=12) and social strategies by little more than a half of them (N=27). On average, formal strategies were described more than once (N=44), informal strategies (N=66) more than one and a half times, while analytic strategies were described more than two and a half times (N=102). A qualitative analysis of these language learning strategies showed that young learners can plan, carry out, monitor, and evaluate their learning process, and indicates how children do this consciously. The final list of frequently described language learning strategies, which are specific to preschool children learning a foreign language, represents an empirical starting point for their implementation in early foreign language learning and teaching.